French Regulators Question Google’s Search Dominance

Another day, another round of legal scrutiny for Google, which has been a whipping post for regulators of late.

Today, it’s France’s turn to express concern that the tech company may be just too big and dominant.

The country’s competition authority yesterday said that Google might have abused its dominant position in the local Internet search advertising market.

The decision by Autorité de la Concurrence follows closely on the heels of the European Commission announcing that it was investigating whether the search behemoth is shutting competitors out of the online-search advertising market.

The French competition authority said they had found “possible operational abuses, whereby the search engine apparently imposes exorbitant conditions on its partners or customers, treats them in a discriminatory manner or refuses to guarantee a minimum degree of transparency in the contractual relations that it establishes with them.” (Click here, here, and here for articles from WSJ, NYT and the Guardian in the UK.)

It is estimated that 90% of Internet searches in France are done through Google, WSJ reports.

While the French could issue sanctions, the competition authority has instead suggested more “targeted responses,” noting that existing competition laws in the country already provide ways to curb any abuses by Google, the Times reports.

Google took issue with the French watchdog’s decision. “Search ads are one of many options for advertisers. If the price of search ads rises, advertisers can and do switch to other formats, both online and offline. That’s the sign of a competitive and dynamic industry,” Google said in a statement.

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